


Limitless

by Maeglin_Yedi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Disability, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Tom Riddle, Harry Potter & Tom Riddle Attend Hogwarts Together, Harry Potter Gets the Love He Deserves, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, No Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), POV Harry Potter, Past Child Abuse, Possessive Tom Riddle, Sane Tom Riddle, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Teenage Tom Riddle, Tom Riddle is Not Voldemort, do not copy story to another website
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26495548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeglin_Yedi/pseuds/Maeglin_Yedi
Summary: What if Harry and Tom were born in the same time and were surrounded by actual caring, competent adults while they attended Hogwarts together?Imagine the possibilities!A series of slice-of-life vignettes, one chapter for each Hogwarts year, in which we follow Harry and Tom as they attend Hogwarts as friends and more in a world that treats children with abusive pasts and personality disorders realistically instead of pretending their issues aren’t there.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 29
Kudos: 309





	Limitless

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write a scenario like this for a long time now, but since I'm already writing three WIPs, two of which are epic in size, I decided to wait. Until I realized that a scenario like this one doesn't need fifty chapters and an elaborate plot. Just a chapter a year will do nicely, and that will help me cleanse my creative palate in between writing chapters for my WIP. 
> 
> So here we have something nice and fluffy and sweet, well, mostly. Rather it's a story in which I try to realistically write a Harry and Tom dealing with their emotional issues while getting help from competent adults. I know, right? What a concept. 
> 
> Come follow me on Tumblr so you won't miss any updates: [maeglinyedi](https://maeglinyedi.tumblr.com)

Year 1

They met in Diagon Alley during the muggleborn orientation gathering under McGonagall’s expert direction. Harry was the only child there without an accompanying adult, and one mother approached him right away. 

“What’s your name, child?” The woman asked with a warm smile which made Harry’s stomach flip. He didn’t think any mother had ever smiled at him like that. “I’m Angela Rivers, and this is my son Tom.”

The son in question gave Harry a brief but suspicious look and took an obvious step closer to his mother as if to signal Harry wasn’t welcome as part of his family. Which was kind of funny, because it was obvious Tom hadn’t always been part of that family either. 

Angela Rivers had dark skin, long hair tied back in a bunch of dreadlocks and her accent suggested she’d been born somewhere in the Caribbean. Tom had straight, black hair and his skin was the kind of milky white that suggested his ancestors had been British and nothing but British for many, many generations.

“I’m Harry Potter.” Ignoring the glaring boy, Harry smiled up at Mrs Rivers. “I live with my aunt and uncle but they don’t like magic much.”

“Well, it was quite the shock to hear about it,” Mrs Rivers agreed while she herded Harry and Tom in front of her as they started their procession through Diagon Alley. “Just stick with us for today and you’ll be fine.”

Harry nodded his thanks and felt an enormous sense of relief there was someone looking out for him personally, at least for that day. Ever since Professor McGonagall had visited the Dursleys and told Harry he was a wizard, Harry’s mind had been in turmoil for a variety of reasons. 

The first one being that his parents hadn’t died in a car crash, as his aunt and uncle always claimed, but had been murdered by a wizard who wanted vengeance against Harry’s father, who had worked as a magical police officer. Apparently the wizard had been their friend once upon a time and had become a criminal without his parents’ knowledge. After Harry’s father uncovered the truth, the wizard had attacked his father and mother in a cowardly fashion while pretending to surrender and killed them both. He’d gone on the run and Harry’s godfather, also a magical police officer, had caught up with him but had died in an explosion that also killed his parents’ murderer. 

The second thing was that Harry was a wizard, which his aunt had known his whole life but never thought to mention. At least it explained all the strange things that always happened around Harry, and he’d gotten Dudley’s second bedroom after McGonagall had left, not to mention he now got to leave the Dursleys for most of the year, so it wasn’t all bad. Just a lot to take in.

“Gringotts first,” McGonagall said as she led them with sure steps through the crowded alley. Both Harry and Tom looked around with wide eyes at all the strange little shops and the strangely dressed people around them. Once inside Gringotts, McGonagall briefly spoke to Harry to tell him his parents left him money and to give him a small golden key. A wild and fun cart ride later Harry discovered he wouldn’t have to worry about money for at least his entire Hogwarts career. 

Mrs Rivers had exchanged pounds into galleons, as all the parents had done and Harry joined them again as they made for the luggage shop where they all bought trunks. One of the parents talked to the clerk and discovered they could put charms on their trunks to shrink them to the size of a matchbox with just a tap of their wand and soon enough everyone wanted to have this charm applied. 

“Go on, Harry,” Mrs Rivers said with an encouraging nod. “I bet it will make your life a lot easier instead of having to lug that big thing around.” And so Harry also had the charm applied, even if it cost five gold coins. 

Tom kept shooting Harry dirty looks behind his mother’s back but as soon as Mrs Rivers caught sight of him he pretended to be happy enough Harry was there. Harry sighed. He had hoped to finally make a friend but apparently that wasn’t going to happen that day. 

They systematically worked down their lists to buy all they needed. Books, clothes, cauldrons, quills, and much, much more. Finally, they made it to the wand shop, where they entered one family at a time while everyone else took a break at Fortescue’s shop and enjoyed some sorbets on the terrace. Mrs Rivers kept her hand on Harry’s shoulder and guided him along when it was their turn. 

Tom went first since he was practically vibrating out of his skin in excitement at getting his own wand, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Harry watched carefully as Mr Ollivander measured Tom and asked him a few strange questions and then had him try wand after wand after wand, until finally a huge stream of green and gold sparks erupted from a light-coloured wand and Tom turned to offer his mother a huge grin. 

“Yew and phoenix feather,” Mr Ollivander said, looking almost as satisfied as Tom did. “A temperamental, powerful wand. We can expect great things from you, Mr Rivers.”

Harry was next and he inhaled a deep breath as he endured Mr Ollivander’s fussing before being given his first wand to try. In the end it took Harry even longer than Tom to find his wand, but the moment Harry closed his hand around the light-brown wood he felt as if he’d finally found what he’d been looking for his entire life without ever realizing he was looking for it in the first place. A shower of red and gold sparks rained down around them as Harry ducked his head to hide his own grin. 

“Holly and phoenix feather,” Mr Ollivander said, rubbing his fingers across his chin. “How curious. You are not related, are you?”

“We just met Harry today. He’s tagging along since his family dislikes magic,” Mrs Rivers said while Tom gave Harry a curious look. 

“Well then, I’d almost say you two were destined to meet, if your wands are any indication,” Mr Ollivander explained while staring at them with narrowed blue eyes. “The phoenix feathers in your wands came from the same phoenix, who has only ever offered me two feathers. Your wands are connected, and so, it seems, are your futures.”

“Huh,” Harry said as he stared down at the wand in his hand in astonishment. They paid Mr Ollivander and left the shop since more students were eagerly waiting to get their own wands. Mrs Rivers took them for ice-cream and Tom sat down right next to Harry at the table they shared with a family called the Grangers. Their daughter couldn’t stop talking about all the things she’d seen and all the things she wanted to learn and her parents watched her with shared looks of fond indulgence. 

Harry expected Tom to go back to shooting him dirty looks, but surprisingly, Tom’s entire demeanour had changed since they got their wands. Tom’s gaze was now fixed on Harry almost constantly and was full of fascination. He stuck to Harry’s side for the rest of the day, never saying much but always there. 

Their last visit was the pet shop. “It says you’re allowed a pet, Harry,” Mrs Rivers said with one of her encouraging smiles. Harry really liked seeing those. “So get an owl. That way you can write us. I’d love to get letters from you, child.”

Tom was already looking at the many different types of owls and Harry joined him. It didn’t take much time before Harry’s eye fell on a beautiful white owl but Harry didn’t think he was allowed to buy an amazing bird like that, so he stared at it but didn’t dare ask anyone to buy it. 

“Do you like that one?” Mrs Rivers asked, gesturing to the white owl as she leaned her face close to Harry’s. “Let’s buy that one then.” And she helped Harry get the clerk’s attention so he could hand over quite a few gold coins and purchase his first ever pet. Tom chose a large, black owl with glowing yellow eyes which he immediately named Apollo. Harry wasn’t sure yet what to name his own owl, who was a girl according to the clerk, but Mrs Rivers assured him he could take his time and come up with the perfect name. 

Then the day came to an end and McGonagall approached Harry to escort him back to the Dursleys. 

“Now you have an owl and you will write me, you hear,” Mrs Rivers said as she gave Harry a hug which he cherished. He’d never been hugged like that before. 

“I’ll write a letter this evening and send Apollo to deliver it to you,” Tom said with a firm nod, leaving Harry no room to object. Not that Harry wanted to stop him. Tom had come around and they had matching wands and Harry thought that maybe he had made a friend after all. 

Harry did receive a letter from Tom and Harry did write a letter back, after which Tom sent him a small book on how to write with a quill, which he’d read himself already. Harry studied it intently and practised every day and by the end of the summer Harry’s penmanship, while it would never win any awards, was at least fairly neat and legible. Tom’s handwriting also improved much during that month as they wrote each other almost daily letters, sharing in their excitement at the idea of going to a magical school and learning to perform magic themselves. At Tom’s urging Harry read all his school books front to back and discussed all their subjects with Tom, who seemed to be a very smart boy indeed. 

Harry also learned that Tom was indeed adopted, had spent the first five years of his life in various foster homes until Angela and Benjamin Rivers had taken him in and had eventually adopted him. Tom had five siblings, three older ones and two younger ones, all adopted and all with special needs. Harry wondered what Tom’s special needs were or if he was the only one without any, but didn’t dare ask. Tom just vaguely mentioned some behavioural issues in previous foster families but that was it. 

Tom and his family lived in Dorset on a small farm where his parents grew vegetables for the farmer’s market, locally and in London. They specialized in peppers of all kinds. Apparently, Tom’s father was a fanatic when it came to breeding new kinds of peppers, the hotter the better. It sounded like an amazing life and Harry felt a pang of jealousy more than once while he was stuck in the small bedroom at the Dursleys, where he was reminded daily how unwanted he was, while Tom, an orphan like himself, got to have this amazing family. 

But on the other hand, Harry was very happy to have made an actual friend in Tom, who was clever and funny and seemed to genuinely like reading what Harry had to tell him. 

Harry also wrote to Mrs Rivers a few times, just random things about chores he did or magical subjects he was looking forward to and each time Mrs Rivers wrote him a letter back, accompanied by some homemade treats, like biscuits and cakes and granola bars. Harry, who only got the barest of meals from the Dursleys, savoured them all. 

Finally, September 1st came around and a grumbling Uncle Vernon dropped Harry off at Kings Cross Station before speeding off, but Harry didn’t mind because he had arranged to meet Tom and his family in the entrance hall.

Tom waved at him, standing between his parents. Mr Rivers was the opposite of his wife; tall, pale, reddish-blonde hair and a neat beard. Three of Tom’s siblings had come along. Tom’s older sister, Christine, who was born deaf and wore implants to help her hear. Tom’s younger sister, Sally, who used a wheelchair because she was born with cerebral palsy. And Tom’s older brother, David, who was on the autism spectrum. 

David seemed even more excited to be there than Tom, since he was obsessed with trains and couldn’t wait to see the Hogwarts Express. Together they made their way to platform 9 ¾, which they could only reach by stepping through an actual wall which wasn’t really a wall. 

Upon seeing the Hogwarts Express, David released a shriek of sheer joy and was off, with Mr Rivers quickly chasing after him. 

Chuckling, Tom turned to Harry. “He gets really excited about trains. He doesn’t care about much of anything else, but trains are his whole world. They’re trying to get him a job at our local train station.”

“I hope he gets the job,” Harry said as they watched David dart in and out of the train, shrieking in excitement, while Mr Rivers offered apologies to anyone who would listen as he tried to catch up with his son. 

Eventually, David calmed down enough that Harry and Tom could find a compartment for themselves. They placed their owl cages inside and released Apollo and Hedwig, so they could roost together on the luggage rack. Their owls had developed genuine affection for each other, it seemed, since Tom and Harry had started their correspondence. They unshrunk their trunks and placed those below the seats so they could easily access them. 

Tom said goodbye to his family with hugs, and Harry also got a hug from Mrs Rivers while she whispered in his ear she’d given Tom a big enough lunch so he could share with Harry. For some reason, a lump formed in Harry’s throat at hearing that and he had to swallow a few times while Mrs Rivers gave him a second hug. 

Once seated in their compartment, they were quickly joined by one of the girls they’d met at the muggleborn gathering, Hermione Granger, and a quiet boy who introduced himself as Neville Longbottom. While Harry and Tom discussed a few things they’d read in Hogwarts a History (which Tom had sent to Harry to read after finishing it himself), Hermione joined the conversation since she’d read the book as well. She was very loud and liked to spew forth all she knew, but she did challenge Tom’s intellectual side. 

Harry did get to eat a big lunch thanks to Mrs Rivers, with bacon butties and chicken curry pasties, which were spicy but delicious, and lots of biscuits for afters.

“My dad grew those peppers!” Tom proudly explained while offering Hermione and Neville a curry pasty to try as well. Mrs Rivers had packed enough to feed at least a dozen people, or so it seemed.

After lunch, Neville realized he was missing a toad and Hermione went with him to help look for it.

“What if they realize they’ve made a mistake once we get there and they send me back home?” Harry bit his lip as he stared at Tom. The closer they got, the more nervous Harry became. 

Tom gave him disbelieving look. “Did you forget we have matching wands? And did you forget all the sparks? You’ve got magic, Harry, same as me. They’re lucky to have us. Now, have you thought some more on where you’ll be sorted?”

“I’m still thinking I’ll end up in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.”

“Hm.” Tom leaned back in his seat and thought for a few moments. “And we both know I’ll go to either Ravenclaw or Slytherin.”

Harry nodded in agreement. They’d discussed all the Houses in depth already, and no matter how they looked at things, those choices seemed the most logical for them both.

“We’ll just have to stay friends, no matter where we’re sorted,” Tom finally announced. 

“Of course!” Harry couldn’t imagine not staying friends with Tom just because they went to different Houses. What a ridiculous idea. 

“Promise me,” Tom said, leaning forward and holding out his hand to Harry. 

“I promise,” Harry said solemnly, shaking Tom’s hand. “Now you.”

“I’ll always be your friend, Harry.” Tom squeezed Harry’s hand once before letting go, and Harry felt relieved he wouldn’t lose his first ever friend the moment they got to the castle. 

An old hat sent Tom to Slytherin and Harry to Gryffindor, but they kept true to their promise and remained friends. Harry also became fast friends with Ron Weasley, who he met during the opening feast and who occupied the bed beside his in the first year dormitory. Ron was easy-going, funny and happy to tag along with Harry. Though he seemed a little unsure at first when he realized Harry was friends with a Slytherin, he accepted Tom as a fixed part of Harry’s life. 

Tom in turn tolerated Ron since he understood Harry would make friends in his own House. In Slytherin, Tom spent all his time with Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode. Both were quiet, studious kids, which seemed to suit Tom just fine. 

Around October, Harry made a second friend in Hermione Granger. Until that time she’d been rather annoying, but after an altercation that involved Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle ganging up on Hermione in an empty corridor and Harry and Ron coming to the rescue, they’d become fast friends. Harry had a huge black eye, courtesy of Crabbe, Ron had a split lip courtesy of Goyle, and Hermione had bruised knuckles courtesy of Malfoy’s nose. 

Tom accepted Hermione’s presence a lot better than he had Ron’s, and Harry suspected this was because Hermione was almost as smart as Tom and could keep up with his more intellectual conversations which Harry frequently got lost in. 

The six of them spent most of their free time together, in the library to do their homework, an empty classroom to practice spells or walking around the grounds for some fresh air and to get some exercise. 

It wasn’t until mid-October that Harry noticed Tom didn’t look well. He was paler than usual, had dark circles around his eyes and seemed cranky every minute of every day, even snapping at Harry when he’d asked to use the book Tom had found in the library to finish his charms essay. 

Enough was enough. Harry waited until he had Tom to himself, as not to put him on the spot in front of their friends, and gave him a long look. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Tom insisted right away, not meeting Harry’s gaze. 

“Tom, please,” Harry said softly, concern for his friend making his stomach roll. “I can tell something is wrong. Please tell me. I want to help.”

Tom sighed, long and deep, and rubbed a hand across his face. He looked absolutely exhausted. “Malfoy has declared war on me, for some reason. Probably for being a mudblood and for associating with more mudbloods and Gryffindors and silly things like that.”

“Define war,” Harry asked, inwardly boiling with hot anger at that stupid blond tosspot. 

“If it was just Malfoy, I could handle it,” Tom said, still not quite meeting Harry’s eyes. “But he’s enlisted older students to do his dirty work. Hexing me and my belongings, or outright stealing them.”

“Tom!” Harry was genuinely taken aback. 

“I can’t go to a teacher,” Tom cut him off before Harry could even suggest such a thing. “Being a snitch is even worse than being a mudblood in Slytherin, and that’s saying something.”

Harry frowned, still filled with bubbling rage for his best friend’s unfair situation. “So we get back at Malfoy ourselves.”

Tom blinked at him. “We?”

“Yes.” Harry smiled at Tom. “We’ve got friends now, who’ll want to help.”

And Harry was right about that. Hermione predictably suggested Tom consult a teacher, but after realizing that would probably only make matters worse she was quickly onboard to take matters into their own hands. 

It was Theo who suggested a nightmare curse, since they weren’t hard to cast even for a first-year while having a devastating effect on one’s ability to function. Theo’s father owled him a book that had several types of nightmare curses in it for Tom to practise. 

It was Ron who suggested casting the curse on an object instead of Malfoy himself. His father dealt with all sorts of cursed objects, and Ron reasoned that it would be harder to find and break that way, instead of Malfoy simply walking into the infirmary to have Pomfrey fix him. 

It was Hermione who suggested using a magical contract, to make sure Malfoy wouldn’t bother Tom again in the future. 

And it was Millicent who wrote to her mother, explaining the situation in vague terms and asking for such a contract. Millicent’s mother was a half-blood who knew all too well how nasty Slytherins could get even to their own and she happily created a magical contract for Tom to use. 

And so, on the first of November, Tom cursed Malfoy’s pillow with a mild but persistent nightmare curse. Over the next week, Malfoy started looking more and more dishevelled, while acting more and more erratic. He jumped at loud noises, spilled tea all over himself because his own owl startled him during breakfast and eventually fell asleep during Herbology, faceplanting in the dirt. 

That was when Tom shoved the contract under Malfoy’s nose, stating that if Malfoy signed it, swearing never to harm Tom or his belongings again, or have others do it on his behalf, the nightmares would end. 

Malfoy looked like he very much wanted to run to tell his father, but seemed to realize the unwritten rules about snitches in Slytherin at the last moment, and signed the contract while promising Tom dire retribution. 

Which never came. Millicent’s mother had worded the contract in such a way Malfoy literally couldn’t act against Tom, no matter how hard he tried. Since Malfoy was still a minor, the contract would break upon reaching his majority, but that meant that for the next six years, Tom didn’t have to worry about Malfoy stabbing him in the back. And by the time they were seventeen, Tom would be old and powerful enough to handle his problems with his wand if need be. 

“Thanks,” Tom whispered to Harry while they strolled beside the lake. Their friends were up ahead of them, Ron and Millicent loudly discussing the results of the Chudley Cannons’ latest lost game. 

“What are you thanking me for?” Harry asked, though he felt a mild blush colouring his cheeks. “Our friends and you did all the work.”

“But you were the one who realized something was wrong in the first place and wouldn’t take no for an answer until I told you,” Tom said as he bumped his shoulder against Harry’s. “And I appreciate that.”

“Sure.” Harry ducked his head, though he couldn’t hold back a very pleased smile. “Anytime.”

Mrs Rivers wrote to Harry that he was coming to stay with them for the Christmas holidays and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. And Harry was glad for that, since he looked forward to it, never having attended a Christmas celebration before where he was welcome. Harry experienced a brief moment of panic when realizing people exchanged gifts during Christmas and Harry had nothing to give Tom’s family, but Tom assured him his parents never expected their children to buy them something, just create a card or some other craft project. Harry didn’t really have supplies to do something like that, so instead he purchased a whole pile of chocolate frogs on the Hogwarts Express and wrapped five of those up in notebook paper on which he’d drawn Christmas trees, for each member of Tom’s family, and for Tom himself. Tom pretended not to notice, and Harry pretended not to notice Tom had bought him a big handful of liquorice wands, Harry’s favourite. 

The farm Tom lived on was the most amazing place Harry had ever seen, even though it was December and everything was bare. There were countless greenhouses (poly-tunnels, Mr Rivers called them) where they grew their peppers in the summer, but in the winter Mr Rivers occupied himself with selling seeds of all the peppers he bred and cultivated. Mr Rivers ran advertisements in all sorts of gardening magazines and shipped his seeds all over the country, even the world. 

Harry shared the attic room with Tom, David and Vinnie, Tom’s youngest brother. Vinnie had skin darker even than Mrs Rivers, tightly curling hair and the glowing ambition to be a football player. He was also visually impaired but that didn’t seem to hold him back very long in anything he did. There were two sets of bunkbeds in the attic room. Tom shared his with Vinnie, and Harry got the top bunk while David preferred the lower one. 

They were happy to hear that David had gotten a job at the train station in the city nearby, cleaning train carts. David was over the moon with his job and eagerly awaited the taxi to come pick him up and drive him to work early every morning. Mrs Rivers told them David had also signed up for an assisted living program for people with special needs, but that there was a one to two years waiting list, so David had to be patient for a while longer before he could strike out on his own. 

Harry also met Tom’s thirteen-year-old sister Britt, who made chewing gum into an artform. Seriously, Harry didn’t think he ever saw Britt’s jaw not move. Britt was also very loud, seemed to take up the entire room while she spoke, and had a tendency to turn everything into drama, especially her relationships with her friends at school.

Harry was slightly intimidated by her, but Tom, for reasons Harry couldn’t fathom, adored her. Britt seemed to barely tolerate Tom in return, but then again, Britt seemed to barely tolerate anyone around her including her parents.

“Why do you like Britt so much, other than that she’s your sister?” Harry asked Tom after a few days as they were walking the three family dogs across the farm. They were all rescued mutts, with one missing an ear, one an eye and the last one a back leg. 

Tom shot Harry an amused look. “Britt can be a bit much, yeah, but when I’d just come to live here and had to go to school here for the first time, there were five or so bullies in my class who beat me up a few times. I gave as good as I got, but five to one aren’t great odds. One day, about two weeks later, Britt caught the bullies beating me up and she pummelled them all into the ground. Britt’s got anger management problems, but she gets pills for that now. The bullies never bothered me again.”

“Wow,” Harry said, imagining having an older, aggressive sister that would beat up your bullies for you. Imagine if he’d had someone like that when he’d still lived with the Dursleys and had to spend half his time running away from Dudley and his friends. “Yeah, that is pretty cool.”

Tom nodded in agreement and they continued their walk. 

A few times during the holidays Mrs Rivers drove Tom to go meet with a woman named Mrs Applebee. According to Tom he used to meet with her all the time and that she helped him to make sense of the thoughts in his head. Nowadays he only saw her occasionally, but those meetings still helped him. 

Harry found this a very interesting concept and noticed that Tom was usually more relaxed when he came back from his meetings. 

Christmas itself was an amazing event, with a lavish dinner that Mr and Mrs Rivers, together with Christine, Tom’s eldest sister, had put together. It was a combination of traditional Christmas foods, like a roast turkey, combined with some Caribbean dishes, like oxtail stew, fried plantains, peas and rice and curried green beans. Harry had never had such amazing food, not even at Hogwarts and ate until he was worried his stomach might burst. 

The next day they exchanged gifts and Tom’s family seemed to really like the chocolate frogs Harry got them, even Britt, who shot Harry a brief glance, popped a bubble with her chewing gum and said, “Cool.”

Harry got presents as well which completely overwhelmed him and made him duck his head a lot. Mr and Mrs Rivers got him new shoes (nice, black trainers which he could wear with his uniform at school or with casual clothes), a new pair of jeans that fit and a warm, red jumper. He also got some socks and underwear, all brand new. Finally, he received some books, from a writer called Roald Dahl, which Christine explained was a very famous author whose books every child needed to read. They were second-hand books, but Harry didn’t mind one bit. 

Aside from gifts from Tom’s family, Harry also received a gift from Ron’s mother. A red, knitted jumper with an H on the front. Tom received one in green with a big T. 

Mrs Rivers clapped both hands over her mouth in admiration and urged the boys to slip on the jumpers so she could take their pictures. They did so, Tom reluctantly, and Harry with glowing cheeks from the sheer gratitude he felt at that moment. 

Lastly, Harry received a cloak that turned you invisible. There wasn’t a name on the note, but it did say that it had belonged to Harry’s father, so Harry was very happy to have it. 

The next day, Vinnie expressed an interest in the books Harry had received, and since Vinnie had problems reading because he had such poor eyesight, Harry spent the rest of the holidays reading some of the Roald Dahl books to Vinnie. David and Sally also joined them to listen to Harry talk and naturally Tom never left Harry’s side for long. Mrs Rivers provided lots of hot cocoa and lemon cakes, and that is how Harry spent his afternoons, sitting in front of the fireplace beside the lit Christmas tree while it poured icy rain outside. 

It was the best two weeks Harry had ever had and he was more than sad for them to end. Tom gave him a knowing look and whispered that his parents expected Harry to come stay with them at least for part of the summer, which made Harry’s chest warm and his heart pick up speed. 

During the second half of their first year a bit of a rivalry developed between Tom and Hermione. As Hermione kept telling anyone who would listen, exams were only a few months away and they needed to study now to be ready for them. 

In terms of intelligence, it was hard to say who was smarter. Tom seemed to have an innate sense of how magic worked and he was far more confident, but Hermione was undefeated when it came to memorizing anything she read and knowing where to look for what information. 

Point was, they were both geniuses in their own right and Harry and the rest of their friends had no idea who would do better on their final exams. 

Tom appeared to get a kick out of needling Hermione, poking her in her insecure areas when it came to sitting the exams. 

“Why do you do that?” Harry asked him one afternoon as they both stood hidden in the stacks searching for a book to help them with their transfiguration essay. “Provoke Hermione like that. I can’t tell if you’re bullying her or not and I’m not sure I like it.”

Tom snorted and turned to look at Harry with a sharp smile. “Because it pushes her to do better. Hermione has a lot of insecurities and they hold her back, keep her from reaching heights I know she can reach if only she lets go of her fear.”

“Huh.” Harry accepted that answer for now and paid closer attention to when and how Tom needled her and as it turned out, Tom did seem to push her to try new things, look at things differently, challenge herself to do better, so Harry left him to it, not wanting to get involved in that complicated relationship.

Their gatherings at the library started drawing in more and more students. From Hufflepuff, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot joined them on occasion, and from Ravenclaw Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil were frequent visitors to discuss ideas with Tom or just join their group for an afternoon to finish their homework. Harry didn’t mind one bit, enjoying all the friends he was making. 

Tom was still his best friend, and Harry suspected, would always remain his best friend. There was just a level of understanding between him and Tom that Harry didn’t have with Ron or Hermione, no matter what amazing friends they were in their own right.

Harry never realized he’d one day enjoy spending so much time studying, but he blamed Tom and Hermione for accidentally teaching him better studying habits. And Harry had friends like Ron and Millicent to remind everyone from time to time that there was more to life than books and studying for exams and who forced them out of the library for snowball fights outside or exciting games of exploding snap in empty classrooms. 

Exams came around and Hermione didn’t have a nervous breakdown, though it was a close thing. In the end, Tom had her beat in all exams when it came to highest grades, but Hermione was a very close runner up. 

For a moment, Hermione looked defeated but then Tom smirked at her and said, “There’s always next year,” and a determined glint re-entered Hermione’s eyes and she raised her chin at Tom, obviously accepting the challenge. Tom, Harry was sure, secretly loved the challenge of staying ahead of her. 

The six of them rode the Hogwarts Express together and Harry savoured those final moments before having to return to his tiny room as the unwanted burden in the Dursley household.

“Write to us after you talk to your aunt and uncle about staying with us,” Mrs Rivers said as she gave Harry a tight hug. “Promise, Harry.”

“I promise,” Harry whispered back, knowing he’d ask his aunt and uncle first thing about leaving them for most of the summer.

“Good. If we don’t hear anything, we’re coming to get you.” Mrs Rivers drew back with a watery smile, and Mr Rivers patted his shoulder and David gave him a picture of a bright-red steam locomotive, very similar to the Hogwarts Express, Christine handed him a new book to read by someone called Michael Ende, and Sally and Vinnie waved at him, and Britt popped her gum and said, “See ya,” and Tom…he gave Harry a look that said a thousand things, all promising that Harry would be fine, that Tom would be there for him and that Harry had a new family now, even if it wasn’t official. 

Harry left to meet his aunt and uncle with a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr: [maeglinyedi](https://maeglinyedi.tumblr.com)


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